Navajo-France - Exchange 2007

Today, we asked the students to create themselves a animated banner to support their local teams. We chose this subject because we thought it would be more interesting for the students. Indeed, everyone is the school is very fond of their sport teams, and if it’s not about footbal, it’s about volleyball or basketball. So, when they finish their banners they will put it on their blogs (like us) to support the KNIGHTS!

This weekend we went to the Grand Canyon for a hike with a teacher from greyhills.

Each of us had already seen numerous photos of the Grand Canyon, and we had been to the Coal Mine Canyon and to Monument Valley before. So we all thought we knew what was expecting us. But, on the road, when we saw this gigantic sinkhole between the trees, we felt the same impression than the one we felt when we arrived in Arizona… Minuscules, we are so minuscules! The vastness of the landscape and the relief is fabulous. The most impressive thing is that the relief appears bolt upright, which is not the case for mountains that you can see from far away and that becomes bigger and bigger as you get closer. You need to be in front of the Grand Canyon to see it.

Our day’s program : a 12 miles hike, with a 3000 feet altitude difference between the point of arrival/departure and our objective is at the bottom of the canyon : a viewpoint from where we can look at the colorado just a few feet under. Small curiosity of this place: squirrels! Unlike France’s squirrels who are very apprehensive with humans, the squirrels we saw all along the trail do not hesitate to approach you to claim food or to help themselves if you leave your bag!

The descent was easy but the way back was more difficult. That’s why it’s more dangerous to hike in a canyon that in mountains. Because if you want to climb a mountain and realize halfway that you’re unable to do it, it is easy to turn back. But in the Grand Canyon you must know yourself, your physical capacities and your limits, and be sure of your reserves of water and food to manage to walk back, which is much more difficult. For us, everything turned out fine but we were all worn out after this hike.

This week, we started with the students the software of animation for the Web: Flash.

As for Photoshop, the discovery of the software and its tools is done slowly. The differents levels of the pupils in the same group are important, so we have to be very reactive and to help as well as possible the weakest.

We approach with them the simple animations: motion tween, forms, motion guides… And very little action script (programming flash) because they should not be lost in too hard codes.

To maintain their attention waked up we animate with them “Bling-Bling” (first name written in the style jewel/gold/flashy/hip hop) already drawn on photoshop the last week. This fact they can imagine the many possibilities by using the 2 softwares: photoshop and flash.

It may be due to the fact that sport in school is important in US, but Greyhills high schoolers are very sporty and skilled. Unlike France’s, sports clubs here are part of the school. Near the gymnasium, you can admire in windows, articles of local newspapers and cups won by the school. Some teachers are very proud of the latest performance : the feminine volleyball team won 17 consecutive victories last year! It seems they particularly enjoy playing basketball, softball, volleyball and of course football.

We played a little with them, and we also had the chance to attend to a few games against other schools. There were a football game and two volleyball games played at home. The first one got disordered because of a big cloudburst and ended up as a loss. The cheerleaders kept supporting them till the end with their choregraphies though, their back turned on the field. As for the volleyball games, they are composed of three plays, the last one opposes the best level teams. Even though they were just high schoolers, the plays’ rallies were tight and captivating.

Too bad we won’t have the chance to see other games. They were all the more interesting since we could see our “pupils” in another field than the computer’s.

GO KNIGHTS!!!!!!

Before arrived at Tuba City, we had all the three the intention to visit it, the students of the preceding exchanges having caused our curiosity on this subject. It is of course about The Sin City, Las Vegas!

The first stage, most difficult, was the way. Tuba City being, “lost in the middle of nowhere”, we had to resort to a rather unusual option. It was necessary to leave the city by a taxi to go to Flagstaff to rent a car. The United States is really an amazing country: with five hours of road, the landscape changes a lot, and between two deserts, we can appreciate mounts, plains and forests. Palmiers in sight!!! We knew that we were not very far!

Las Vegas, city planted in the middle of the desert. It’s as hot during the day as it is in the evening and it only goes down very slightly late in the night. More than 40 celsius degrees on average… But what there are even the more amazing, it’s of course the casinos. They often do only one with the hotels, and you find inside a lot of machines and tables of play in a ceaseless hubbub. When we think about all of these players in each casino, we are quickly exceeded by the money sums spent everyday.

In one weekend, we have visited The Excalibur, The Circus-Circus, The Venitian, The Treasure Island and The New York - New York . Each one of these hotels are reproductions (faithful?!) of existing cities or places and strew for the majority the principal street. This street, commonly called “the Strip ” , is certainly the Las Vegas that everyone think about, the remainder of the city is rather banal. You only have to see the adjacent desert streets to realize it…

To conclude : ” What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas… “